Text
E-book Bog Bodies : Face to face with the Past
Bog bodies are the most recognisable faces of prehistoric peoples from northern Europe, giving them international stature. Their preserved remains are the result of a unique natural phenomenon that provides archaeologists with unparalleled insights into the lives and deaths of people from the past. Aspects of appearance, dress, disease and trauma can be examined in ways that are simply not possible for the majority of skeletonised and cremated human remains from prehistory. This book will argue that there is no more powerful archaeological lens through which to view not just daily life in later prehistory but also conflict, customs, beliefs and relations with the environment. Through a synthesis of new discoveries and novel analytical techniques deployed on existing remains, alongside original archival, folkloric and landscape research, it will present the most up-to-date study of these remains. It will also challenge a number of conceptual boundaries that have cir-cumscribed and limited bog body studies for too long, particularly the division between well-preserved and more skeletonised bog remains, and the opposition between ‘pragmatic’ and ‘ritualised’ violence used to interpret their deaths. The methodological framework used here is also groundbreaking: adopting what I will call an ‘after-life cycle’ approach, starting from when we encounter them in the bog.
Tidak tersedia versi lain